Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-01-21
CHAPTER II.

III hours. ~ SOFA WAS OTdWn DE-
f. "' the tire. and he lay on it, III,
nrtnm> had all aloI. been favora.
i'.. ami he now merrily told them that
il art body .ad WRIT, II 10 order him 4
G. ri, l''r. he thought il mi"ht be coun-
tcrinan'ici. They all madr merry with
HIM. paving him visit, by turns. Allie,
and Miss Lynn had been in together
W hen they were leaving. he beckoncd
the latter back. but Alice did not no
ticc. and went limpin@ from the room
''Do You want me to do any thing 1oi
you?' asked Isabel, returning and
bending over the sofa.
Yes" said Mr.. Dalrvmple. taking
possession of both her hands. and look.
inr up with an arch smile. Il wan,
,ou to tell NE what the secret is be.
tween vou and that Spoonev. Charles =
Isabel Lynn eyes dropped, and hen
face grew scarlet. she was unable t.
speak.
- Won't you tell mc:?' repeated Mr..
Dalrymple.
Has he been-sa! ing any thing /,
YOU, sir?" she faltered.
"Not he Not word Somcbod,
else told me they saw he and Mis-,
Lynn had a secret between them, whict
might possibly bear results some day.
She burst into tears. got one of hcl
hands free. and held it before her face
Nay, my dear he kindly said. 81
did not wish to make You uncumforta.
be. only meant to joke; and just to
say one thing, lsabel-that if You and
Charlie should be talking secrets to
each other, and his mother will not
say nay to it. Dry up your tears, child
it is laughing matter, not a crying
one. invite you and Charles to drink
tea with me this evening. There"
Isabel escaped, half smiles, hall
tears. And she and Charles had ties
with Mr.. Dalrymple that evening. ii,
took it early since his illness; 81,
o'clock. Isabel made the tea, ant
Charles waited on his father, who wa:
then in bed. When the tea was cleared
away, Isabel went with it, and Charlie:
Sat by the bedside alone.
"This might have been an unlucky
shot, Charles" Mr.. Dalrymple sudden
ly observed.
"Oh, father! do not talk about it.
am so thankful
But am going to talk about it--t(
tell you why it would have been so I'M
lucky, had it turned out differently
This accident has made me remembel
the uncertainty of life. if l never re
off the table, Charles; don like then
right in my eyes. And just get thu
lotion before you sit down."
Charles Dalrymple rose, did what was
required, and resumed his seat.
'When I married, Charles, l was
only the second brother, and no settle.
ment was made OH your mother. l had
a post in London, as believe you have
heard, which brought me in six hun.
dred year, and we were married on
that, to rub on as best we could. And
very WELL" added Mr.. Dalrymple, in a
sert ofparenthesis, ''for our desires were
simple, and we were not likely to 60
beyond our income. However, when
you were about two years old, Moat-
Grange fell to me, through the death Of
my brother"
"He was my godfather, was he not?''
interrupted Charles.
Eyes. He"
'What was the cause of his death
He must have been 4 young man."
'Eight-and-twenty, only. 1t was
young. I gave up my post in London,
and we came to Moat-Grange-"
''But what did my uncle Charles die
OFF" asked Charles again.
Never mind what. 1t was an un.
happy death, and we do not care to
speak of it. Moat-Grange is worth
about $4,000 a year; and, in one re-
spect. we have done wrong since we
came to it; we have put nothing by"
why should you have put bye" in.
terruptcd Charles.
There. There is an exemplification
of your random way of speaking and
thinking. Moat-Grange is entailcd
upon you. every shilling of it."
"Wellp" said Charles. cit will be
enough for me-"
Il hope it will. But it would have
been any thing but well had l died
for in that case, your mother and Sis
tiers would have been beggars."
20. fatherr'
"Yes. You would have had e., OOC
a year, and they nothing. Let me 20
ON: Charles Dalrymple left many
debts behind him, some of them cruel
ones; We will not enter into that. /,
lin chivalrous feeling. perhaps, but
which and your mother have never
rcpented oDtook those debts upon me,
TO pay oil by degrees. And l paid
them"
"Gothicly chivalrous, that was,"
thought Charles to himself.
''And the estate had also to be kept
up. for would not have it said that
Moat-Grangc suffered by its change OF
owners, and your mother thought with
me; SO that, altogether, we had a
struggle for it, and were positively less
at our ease for ready money here than
we had been in our little household in
London. In about twelve years,
think it was, the debts were cleared off,
and we had breathing time. Then we
began to think about saving; but l am
sorry to say it was only thought of,
not done. The cost of educating YOU
children had increased as you grew
older; Alice's illness came off about
that period, and was a great and con-
tinued expense; and, what with one
thing or other, we never did, or have,
put by. Your expenses at college were
enormous"
Were they?" returned Charles,
somewhat Indifferent.
''Were theyr echoed Mr. Dalrymple,
almost in sharp tone .'Do you for
get that you also ran into debt, like
your uncle Charles?"
Not much, was it. sir?" cried
Charles, deprecatingly who remem-
bered very little of the matter, beyond
the fact that ''the bills" had gone in to
Moat-Grange.
pretty WE'LL" returned Mr..
Dalrymple, with cough. 1.-The sum
total averaged between six and seven
. hundred year, for every year that you
were there"
Surely not" uttered Charles,
startled to contrition.
ut seemed to have made but little
impression on you; you knew it at the
time. But am not recalling this. to
cast reproach to you now, Charles.
You promised then that YOU would
not get into debt again. and l believe
You have kept your word"